Release Manager

We here at Jellyvision are the proud parents of ALEX®, an interactive employee communications platform that happens to share some DNA (and a sense of humor) with the smash-hit trivia video game YOU DON’T KNOW JACK®, created by Jellyvision's founder. ALEX makes navigating tricky decisions—like choosing and using employee benefits or improving your financial wellness—easier, faster, and more helpful, not to mention entertaining. The success of the ALEX platform has exceeded our wildest dreams, (except for the part right before we woke up where our mom was riding a giraffe), which is why we need talented folks like you to help us help ALEX take over the world…er…continue to grow and succeed.

SO WHAT'S THIS JOB ABOUT?

We are looking for a Release Manager to oversee and continuously improve the process for deploying software releases. The Release Manager will own the application release processes from start to finish, including setting them up so that they are self-service, managing risk to production environments, communicating deploy status outward, facilitating resolution when issues arise during deploys, and providing documentation so that teams can be self-sufficient during deploys.

You're a solutions-oriented, decisive, tenacious person who is comfortable making decisions and leading a group. You’ll be helping to accomplish the following:

Develop and communicate detailed release plans and schedules

Understand the roles of Ops, QA, Engineers, and Product in code deploys

Ask questions to understand risk and impact of a given set of code changes

Incorporate business needs to deliver version updates regularly and with needed features

Hold teams accountable for their roles in deploying version updates to productions safely and efficiently.

WHAT KIND OF SKILLS SHOULD I HAVE?

Communication – Specifically, you can work with teams with different communication style. When leading meetings, you extract relevant information from participants while keeping the group on-topic. You make sure teams are clear on expectations and next steps, and you know when to follow up & when to make space for action.

Technical chops – You are familiar with Jenkins, AWS, and Git, or equivalent software, and are looking forward to learning more every day.

Organization – You’ll need to be organized and flexible while wrangling folks across departments with different priorities.

Leadership – You’ve managed and have experience leading groups. You can recognize when improvements are needed and collaborate with teams to improve processes proactively.

AND WHAT KINDS OF EXPERIENCE SHOULD YOU HAVE?

We are looking for someone with 3-5 years of related experience. But in terms of ideal backgrounds, that related experience should include:

Software Experience – You’ll have a solid understanding of the release process and of the software development life cycle. Ideally you have release management experience or related software experience in project management, QA, DevOps or engineering.

Analytical Skills – You are extremely detail oriented, ask critical questions and can take in complex sets of information and translate it to action.

ANYTHING ELSE? We share a commitment to excellence and a desire to work in a comfortable, friendly atmosphere, so we only hire nice, bright, funny people who are willing to work hard. Our credo is a simple one: be helpful. And we think we can be most helpful if our workforce is as diverse in thought, perspective, and culture as the people who use our products. We are looking to add amazing folks to our team who will bring diversity across many lines, including race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability, gender identity, sex, and country of origin.

ARE THERE ANY PERKS? Yes, we love perks.

Competitive pay, 401(k) with matching and benefits. We pay 100% of the cost of premiums for medical, dental, vision, disability and life insurance for our employees (as long as you qualify for our tobacco-free discount; if you’re a tobacco user, your medical premiums will be higher than $0). We also cover a really nice chunk of the cost of premiums for spouse/dependent medical, dental and vision insurance.

Casual dress and a flexible schedule. Come in a sweatshirt, jeans, whatever, like everyone else here.

Creative work environment. We are lucky to work in a place that is full of intelligent, talented and innovative folks. Although most hours the place is deathly quiet (we're a focused bunch), this is punctuated with hilarious outbursts and general merriment, which makes a nice way to spend the day.

Free food. Every week, we stock our kitchen with free healthy snack foods, and we have a catered lunch every other week to give people a reason to hang out and eat together.

Easy transportation and lots of love for folks who bike to work. We’re really close to the North/Clybourn red line stop and the Halsted (#8) bus (right by the Apple Store and Mega Whole Foods too), and we have a transit FSA that allows you to dedicate pre-tax dollars to public transportation expenses. A number of our employees like to bike to work, so we also have bike storage, showers and lockers in the office. And for those without their own bike in the city, we offer free divvy memberships – complete with Jellyvision bike helmets you can borrow from the office.

Did we mention our yoga class? We bring a pro instructor right to the office. Fully subsidized by Jellyvision and fully optional, btw.

Oh! And we have a massage chair. Not just any massage chair, my friend. It’s the HumanTouch HT 5320 WholeBody™ Massage Chair. Feeling a little stiff? Sit down. Relax. Feel better? Good. Okay, back to work.

AND HOW DO I APPLY?

We look forward to hearing about you and what you do. Make sure your application includes:

A cover letter that highlights three reasons you think you’d be great for the gig, focusing on how your past experience has prepared you for this kind of position. Writing is key to all we do, and we weigh cover letters heavily. We love a cover letter that really shows us your personality (check out our company bios to see the wide range of personalities we’ve already got in house), but don’t stress if you’re not a comedian. You don’t have to be funny. Just be yourself. We’re mostly interested in learning who you are, what you love to do, and why you’d love to do it here with us.

Your resume

You will receive an auto-reply confirming that we've received your application.

Please know that every single application we receive is read by a real live human being. However that kind of thoughtful review takes time, so it may take us a little while to get back to you (but we will, we promise). In the meantime, NO FOLLOW UP PHONE CALLS OR EMAILS, PLEASE. It’s not that we don’t love hearing from you. It’s just that time spent responding to follow ups could be spent…well…reading your application. Please rest assured that if you received a confirmation from Recruiting Robot, we’ve got your application, and will get back to you really soon. We knew you’d understand.

If you still have pressing questions in the meantime, please feel free to check out our handy-dandy FAQ page!

Location

Our yard is the Chicago River and our porch is the Chicago Skyline. Nuff said.

An Insider's view of Jellyvision

How would you describe the company’s work-life balance?

Jellyvision is a place where I truly feel like leadership wants me to be healthy/happy. They really show me they want you to have a work/life balance. The company does everything they can to avoid unwarranted stress with unlimited PTO, flexible Working From Home, emails reminding me to take care of myself, and ways to get help from my teammates.

Drew

Implementation Expert

What's the biggest problem your team is solving?

The Product team works with other teams to balance customer needs/user wants in a way that educates, promotes good decision-making and drives sales. We're trying to find that balance by listening to our internal/external stakeholders, considering company goals and making decisions that positively impact business, our customers and their employees.

Niral

Lead Product Manager

How does the company support your career growth?

At Jellyvision, you don’t just hear from your manager when you’ve done something wrong. Jellyvision is big on positive feedback and celebrating success. In my experience, management has been great at helping me identify what my strengths are and pointing me in that direction as I progress here.

Hope

Senior Business Development Specialist

What unique initiatives do you have that encourage innovation?

Implementation is a team of ballers, constantly impressing me with new ideas. Our most recent ideas are new classes around Professional Development and a pilot approach to quickly implement customers. These ideas came from folks on the team. When my coworkers have these ideas, my job is to give them the support and resources to run with them.

Alex

VP of Implementation

What projects are you most excited about?

I’m in love with our primary product ALEX because it has real impact on people including some of my own family members! Our product helps users to smartly choose their benefits in an easy-to-understand and friendly way. Also, we are always coming up with new ideas and better versions of our products. Jellyvision is always on the go!

Miguel

Software Engineer

What are Jellyvision Perks + Benefits

Jellyvision Benefits Overview

* Competitive pay, 401(k) with matching and benefits. We pay 100% of the cost of premiums for medical, dental, vision, disability and life insurance for our employees (as long as you qualify for our tobacco-free discount; if you’re a tobacco user, your medical premiums will be higher than $0). We also cover a really nice chunk of the cost of premiums for spouse/dependent medical, dental and vision insurance.

* Casual dress and a flexible schedule. Come in a sweatshirt, jeans, whatever, like everyone else here.
Creative work environment. We are lucky to work in a place that is full of intelligent, talented and innovative folks. Although most hours the place is deathly quiet (we're a focused bunch), this is punctuated with hilarious outbursts and general merriment, which makes a nice way to spend the day.

* Free food. Every week, we stock our kitchen with free healthy snack foods, and we have a catered lunch every other week to give people a reason to hang out and eat together.

* Easy transportation and lots of love for folks who bike to work. We’re really close to the North/Clybourn red line stop and the Halsted (#8) bus (right by the Apple Store and Mega Whole Foods too), and we have a transit FSA that allows you to dedicate pre-tax dollars to public transportation expenses. A number of our employees like to bike to work, so we also have bike storage, showers and lockers in the office. And for those without their own bike in the city, we offer free divvy memberships – complete with Jellyvision bike helmets you can borrow from the office.

* Did we mention our yoga and meditation classes? We bring a pro instructor right to the office. Fully subsidized by Jellyvision and fully optional, btw.

* Oh! And we have a massage chair. Not just any massage chair, my friend. It’s the Renew 2 Zero-Gravity Massage Chair by Brookstone®. Feeling a little stiff? Sit down. Relax. Feel better? Good. Okay, back to work.